In pep talk fail, Jameis Winston tells elementary school girls they're 'supposed to be silent'

Whatever Jameis Winston's intentions were, things went way, way off track.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback spoke to a group of elementary school students in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Wednesday, hoping to inspire the community's youth. But things went horribly wrong when Winston had the boys in the room stand up and the girls sit down and cheer for them, preaching the idea the men should be loud and women should be silent.

Winston started off his pep talk with some good messages about God, education and the belief that you can accomplish anything. Then, he said this, courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times' Tom Jones.

"All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down," Winston said. "But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! We strong, right? All my boys, tell me one time: I can do anything I put my mind to. Now a lot of boys aren't supposed to be soft-spoken. You know what I'm saying? One day y'all are going to have a very deep voice like this (in deep voice). One day, you'll have a very, very deep voice. But the ladies, they're supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men (are) supposed to be strong. I want y'all to tell me what the third rule of life is: I can do anything I put my mind to. Scream it!"

Yikes.

After the speech, when asked about his comments, Winston clarified, saying he was trying to engage one student in particular.

"I was making an effort to interact with a young male in the audience who didn't seem to be paying attention, and I didn't want to single him out so I asked all the boys to stand up," Winston said. "During my talk, I used a poor word choice that may have overshadowed that positive message for some."

Reinforcing misogynistic stereotypes is a guaranteed way for anyone to attract criticism, particularly in a culture which already sends questionable messages about girls' self-worth. But Winston in particular has seen more than his fair share of scandals, to put it mildly.

Winston was accused of sexually assaulting a female student at Florida State in 2012. While he was never criminally charged, the university settled a lawsuit brought by his accuser for $950,000. He also hopped on an FSU table in 2014 while yelling an obscene internet meme, earning him a one-game suspension. That same year, Winston was issued an adult civil citation for shoplifting crab legs from a Tallahassee Publix store.

So the guy doesn't have a great track record.

But speaking to elementary school kids should've been a cakewalk. You go in, spread a little positivity and call it a day. In case Winston didn't get the message, though, we'll spell it out: Outdated gender stereotypes should pretty much never be your go-to. That's just rules to live by.